Photographic instruction script

(pay attention to the correct format and concise content)

The title page is used to mark your name and the name of the script, so it must be correct and tidy. The title is in large font, underlined in the middle, about 3 inches below the top edge of the page. In the lower right corner of the title, write down your name, address, city, province, postal code and telephone number in a single space. Use a simple print format and leave 1 inch in the lower right edge of this page.

Your title of the play

Our old tradition is to put the title of the play on the first page, but now it is popular to omit it. Actually, both options are ok. If you use the old-fashioned method, mark the title of the script about 1 inch above the top edge of the page, center it left and right, use capital letters and underline it.

page number

Starting from the second page, the page number and font in the lower right corner are consistent with the text. Page numbers are very important, so don't ignore this procedure.

Start writing

Immediately after the title of the script, double-spaced, in the left margin, type "fade in:" in capital letters. Pay attention to the use of colons. At the end of your script, type "fade out". Note that there is no colon here. Fade in and fade out are used only once: at the beginning and end of the script. Don't use them anywhere else. If you use "fade in", you can start writing the first scene of the script after double spacing.

Scene title

In the space on the left, you can directly enter the title of the scene. The title of a scene, also called the embedded column, is actually a brief introduction of a scene. It must be short and pithy and printed in capital letters. The title of the scene begins with the general location of the scene-"inside" means indoor scene, or "outside" means outdoor scene. Then write down the specific location in the title, such as: living room, street, or "outside", indicating the outdoor scene. Then write down the specific location in the title, such as living room, street, or supermarket. Finally, the title will show the time when your scene happened-the sun scene or the night scene. Pay attention to the above format, especially its spaces and punctuation. This basic format should remain unchanged. Tip: Use these professional words correctly and try to avoid confusion. For example: interior decoration means interior; Appearance is appearance. If you are a professional script reader in Waigong Waicun, what do you think of the author when you see such a scene title? Of course, the correct way to write it is this: Waigong Village should try to keep the title of the scene simple and clear, and don't destroy it with some details. For example, on a street with a lot of people next to Waisu's apartment-165438+ 10 on May 5, 1992, these details are written in the action paragraph that will start soon after the opening: Waijie-65438+1May 5, 1992, a bustling street.

Write action paragraphs

Sometimes, action paragraphs are called "descriptions" or "narratives". I chose the word "action paragraph" because I want my students to avoid using descriptions or narratives. (In fact, Aristotle once said that drama must be "in the form of action, not narrative". Screenwriters use action paragraphs to provide concise and concise sentences. These story elements cannot be reflected in the dialogue, but they must be seen by the audience. In fact, in the script, an action paragraph is as short as a list, not a description. Single-spaced action paragraphs and double-spaced action paragraphs. In the paragraph content, the "hypothetical situation" in the scene must be expressed. For example, the background (bustling commercial city, quiet park). Environmental factors (time, season, weather) can affect people's actions. Details of the physical environment that can provide potential clues about people and stories (special props such as photo frames, a dozen roses and a witch medicine). In addition, the action paragraph should also include a description of the stage of your character, such as some detailed actions that can show the character's personality and emotions: in the inner living room, Barbara walks along the trees with a jar of water in her hand and sings sacrificial ceremonies.

Design scene

First of all, you should show the details of your story environment, but how to do it is not a rule. Starting with practice, season or weather, you can quickly convey the atmosphere you are looking for, followed by the location and its important physical characteristics. Outside the parade ground-in the morning, the sky is blue, the sun is strong, and the heat wave rises on the grass. Red, white and blue stars and stripes were flying in the stands next to the venue. Hint! The description of the screenwriter only needs to reveal the essence of things. In the action paragraph above, you get enough information to know that it is a hot morning and there will be a military celebration soon. Such a small amount of description can reflect the industry standards and win the favor of producers. Yes, the script will be read by different people, but don't be confused by it. The producer will give readers some special instructions. For any filmmaker, these instructions will conform to the rules of drama. Readers are looking for stories that can be put on the screen like plays, not short stories or novels.

Of course, you want to encourage people to read your script, but if you describe the sunset scene with "Venus shining on the horizon", you are really self-defeating. People who watch movies hate this kind of thing. If you say "your play reads like a novel", it is actually an implicit criticism. Some industry readers even said that they usually skip the action paragraphs and just watch the dialogue. Once, I heard a director complain: "I don't need this single-spaced nonsense, just tell me where to shoot, who is there and what they are doing." Perhaps, you will ask, how can a screenwriter convey the feelings, meanings and actions of the characters without description? The key lies in the following aspects: ☉ Visualize the scene (as if it were reproduced in your mind). Decide what kind of picture you want the audience to see. ☉ Write down a visual image that can convey meaning, not an explanation. ☉ Only write down the details that the camera can capture and the actions that the actors can perform. In our "parade ground" scene, the details are simple, but the camera can capture them. Visual images can cause meaningful associations without explanation or description. For example, the light in the morning is different from that at noon or at night. Although the scene is in the morning, we can see the rising heat wave on the grass. These details show that the season is in summer. The background of the military parade suggests that a military celebration will be held soon; The tricolor star-spangled banner implies that it is in America. In the United States, which countries have military celebrations during the summer vacation? Remembrance day? July 4th? What do we expect the characters in this background to do? Now, in order to continue our discussion, let's rewrite this scene. Outside the parade ground-in the early morning, it was gray and the grass was covered with new snow. Red, white and blue stars and stripes were flying in the stands next to the venue. Only one factor has changed-the climate, and summer has become winter. The first scene suggests that the time is independence day, and we will see parades, celebrations and picnics in our minds; The second scene suggestion is 1 1 Veterans' Day in the grey moon, which gives the story a cold visual atmosphere. According to common sense, the audience will think that the behavior of the characters on July 4 will be very different from that in Veterans Day. We can change the whole story by changing the image.

Camera Angle and Clip Description

Terms such as shot-building, CU (close-up), POV (point-of-view), cutting and dissolving are not strictly taboo, but novices had better avoid using them and let the director decide how to shoot and edit the film. Also, avoid statements such as "Camera found and tracked …". In fact, never mention the camera. I strongly suggest that you get rid of phrases like "we can see …" or "we can hear …" and use "we" to indicate the editing arrangement, which has been out of date for many years. Although such uses will not cause fatal injuries, they will make your works look obsolete. This is a bit of a clumsy psychological tactic when writing a movie script. If you see a finished desktop with camera angles and editing instructions, forget it. Since the film industry has asked us not to include these elements in business scripts, why spend time on these things that must be avoided? The quality of an excellent screenwriter is that he can control the lens angle and editing in the text by means of suggestion without using the word "lens". The stars and stripes are flying in the stands outside the parade ground. Mid shot: Darren walks to the microphone. In this transformation, unless the screenwriter has other arrangements, the end of each scene naturally means "cut". Therefore, writing "cut" at the end of each scene, just like using "to be continued" at the top and bottom of every page, is redundant, jumbled and empty. Hint! When you submit the script, it seems that you are applying for a position. Your script is your job application, and the producer is your future employer. They need your work to meet their requirements for business scripts, and they want you to delete those technical terms from the scripts, so the smartest way is to cater to their requirements. Producers don't care whether your scene ends in "melting", but they care whether your script can become a scene on the screen.

Introduction character

In the action section, when you introduce the character for the first time, mark his name in bold. Then, use the body font. For example, outside the parade ground-in the early morning, the sky is blue, the sun is strong, and the heat wave rises on the grass. Red, white and blue stars and stripes were flying in the stands next to the venue. Darren in uniform appeared on the podium. He knocked on the receiver to see if it was on. The first job is to give the role a proper name. "A woman advises a man not to commit suicide" is too empty. The expression "Jane advised Ed not to jump off a building" will give life to the characters, and the more real the characters are, the more they can help you design their movements. On the other hand, attribute titles can be used to introduce supporting actors or background people, such as "two policemen", "a waiter" or "a group of people". They must also be marked in bold, similarly, then they will be marked in bold, similarly, then they will be marked in text font: outside the parade venue-the Japanese people will begin to take their seats. Some people are holding flags. A group of guards in bright colors walked into the meeting, and their flags were still flying.

Fatal problem

A student once asked, "Should I put a body for someone?" My answer is: "as long as it talks." Sometimes, when you introduce people, you have to find out whether they are "people". In drama, roles participate in dramatic activities. If your corpse starts to speak lines and act like everyone else, you can treat him as a "character", give him a name and introduce him in bold in the action section. If your body just stretches out and lies stiffly on the ground, it belongs to the set scene and becomes a part of the background, just like a prop.

Writing dialogue

Start writing the dialogue 3 inches from the left edge of the page and limit it to a box about 3.25 inches wide (do not exceed this range). Leave 2.7 inches from the left margin to the right margin, or 12 spaces from the left margin of the dialog box, and then mark the name of the speaker in bold. Leave a space between the name of each role and the dialogue. The demonstration is as follows: good afternoon, host, ladies and gentlemen, please stand up when playing the national anthem.

preventive measure

(Don't disconnect the same conversation)

Like spaces, the width of the dialog bar will also affect the length of the script. Too wide or too narrow a dialog box will affect the capacity of the script, and then affect the structure of the script. Similarly, disconnecting the conversation from one page to another will leave a bad impression, and if the format is incorrect, the consequences will be more serious. Mathea is really unhappy today. I want to have a rest and start a new tomorrow. Page break: —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— These lines suddenly stop at the end of one page and start again on another page, where there is no clue to the identity of the speaker. Don't interrupt the conversation like this! To be clear, you must never disconnect the same conversation. The dialogue in the movie should be concise. If your characters' lines extend from one page to another, you may have committed Hamlet syndrome: you write many monologues, and your characters always think loudly and recite all kinds of thoughts, feelings and facts. Such lines are too harmful to action. If your conversation is often five or six lines long, you should think about it. You can rewrite it to avoid interrupting the conversation between pages. For example, you can add something to interrupt the conversation. Mathea is really unhappy today. I want to have a rest and start a new tomorrow. She went to the bar and got a glass of brandy. Page break: ———————————————————————————————————————— This farce of Marcia makes me feel terrible. I really don't know if I can do it. Another way is for the second character to interrupt the conversation of the first character, even if the second character only says one or two words. Mathea is really unhappy today. I want to have a rest and start a new tomorrow. Joe is great. Page break: ———————————————————————————————————————— This farce of Marcia makes me feel terrible. I really don't know if I can do it. Hint! When continuing the interrupted conversation, some scripts will add "Continue" or "To be continued" next to the speaker's name. This is another routine that you don't need to follow. Just treat the resumed conversation as another line, like the example above. In most cases, such a small strategy is feasible. But some lines cannot be adjusted. If you can't avoid interrupting the conversation, you can take this way: Mathea is really miserable today. I want to have a rest and start a new tomorrow. Page break: —————————————————— Mathea's farce makes me feel so uncomfortable. I really don't know if I can do it. If the conversation is disconnected, at least make sure that there are more than two lines on each page, and you can't just leave a lonely sentence on each page. Some playwrights use the complete "to be continued", but in fact "to be continued" is enough. And some scriptwriting software will automatically add "continuation" and "unfinished", so you must pay more attention. The prejudice against disconnection is so serious that it is better to modify this function setting of the software.

Special case: parenthesis

(Use parentheses carefully)

The speaker's "stage description" is one or two lines of brackets, which are displayed with single spacing between the speaker's name and each line (no more than three words in brackets). They are used to prompt some behaviors that are not obvious in the context. Start writing the contents of brackets from the right edge of the left blank to the right 2.2 inches, or from the left edge of the dialog box to the right 6 spaces, limited to 1.5 inches, or from the left edge of the dialog box to the right 6 spaces, limited to a box with a width of 1.5 inches. Host (singing) Oh, if you can see it. ...

Constant argument

Many other film professionals regard the content of the script, such as indicating the shooting angle, as infringement. They said: "Action should be left to the actors, and the work of the director should be left to the director." . What's more, they claim that well-written plays don't need brackets. Example: Demonstrators (laughs) let Gionee Roger fall! Let the devil ship rot! We usually think that the demonstrators must be angry, but my brackets show that they are laughing, so I will argue that my stage description gives an unexpected explanation to the scene. However, many film practitioners question this simple usage, and they will point out that I can introduce the characters by "laughing at the demonstrators" so that I can delete the brackets. Of course, they are right. We really seldom need brackets. In fact, for a novice screenwriter, brackets are both a kind of support and a plague. Why? Because novices are very insecure, they can't help explaining everything clearly, thinking that using brackets can make readers understand the meaning of the whole story. As time went on, something unfortunate happened: almost every line was preceded by a bracket. Never! Don't do this! When you use brackets, you perform the duties of a director on paper. The success of the script lies in presenting images and dramatic actions with strong visual effects. If you are afraid that people will misunderstand the scene you wrote, rewrite it and rearrange your visual image and actions until your meaning can be conveyed without additional instructions. When you really need brackets, limit them to verbs and try to explain the action. Avoid using adjectives or adverbs to describe actions, such as: (smile) instead of (joy) or (joy) instead of (nervousness) or (nervousness) instead of (anger) or (anger). Remember, if you do it well, your setting situation and dialogue tone will give directors and actors appropriate clues. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they can reproduce the scene correctly without your help.

cut to

(induced)

Beginners are often confused about when and how to make the conversion. There is a good guiding principle here: a scene refers to a complete dramatic action that takes place in a certain place, with the same time, purpose and characters. The following parameters may enlighten you to understand when the transition is most appropriate: the change of place or time. (most common) adding or subtracting characters. Change the dramatic purpose of the scene (more frequently). Gradually, you will have an instinctive reaction to these changes. Remember, a scene title (embedded bar) marks a scene transition. Similarly, the space between lines is also very important. When you change scenes, there should be twice the space between the last line of the previous scene and the title of the next scene. A replica of a pirate ship was moored at the port of Japan, where it was shipped. Laughing demonstrators marched with warning signs. The demonstrators knocked down Johnny Roger! Let the devil ship rot! Outside the beach-the sunset glow dyed the Atlantic Ocean red at night. The breeze is blowing on the beach. Sandra looks at her son Tim, who is climbing the rocky beach. You got it? When typing the last line of an existing scene, insert an empty line, and then type a new scene title. You may see a script that uses triple spacing (two carriage returns) between scenes. As far as I know, it is feasible to double or triple the spacing between scenes. Just be careful not to use triple spacing in other cases.

sound effect

When your character or audience hears special sounds, you need to write sound effects. The sound effect only appears in the action section and should always be black. Just using one or two words to prompt "sound" means that the sound effect you expect requires very few visual clues. Don't post another column of "special effects" or "sound effects". How to distinguish what is sound effect and what is not? One principle is to find the source of sound. Can you find something that can make a sound? If not, then you should write sound effects. For example, outside the street corner-it's raining cats and dogs at night, with lightning and thunder. An empty telephone booth. A car passed by. The telephone rang. A stray dog barked at the telephone booth. You can see the downpour, and you don't need to add sound effects. But you can't see the thunder, so you must write down the sound effect of "thunder" Similarly, you can see the telephone, but you can't see its ringing. When the phone rings, you need to add sound effects. You can see the dog barking, so when it barks, there is no need to add sound effects. And another situation: the outer corner-it's raining cats and dogs at night, with lightning and thunder. An empty telephone booth. A car passed by. The telephone rang. The dog barked in the distance. At this time, the dog is off the screen and can be written as "dog barking" as a sound effect. The sound of telephone, doorbell and radio is sound effect. Because even if you see the phone or doorbell on the screen, you can't "see" the sound they make. On TV, when you see images, you will expect sounds and know where they come from, but you won't "see" the radio playing music. In the kitchen, there was light music on the radio on Sunday, and then there was a beep. Announcer (OS) This is a pilot project of dynamic broadcasting network. Note that the (OS) of "announcer" is the abbreviation of OFF SCREEN, which means the line of off-screen sound source. Unfortunately, some beginners misunderstood and added (OS) after the sound effect. Don't! This is purely redundant. Just add black to the action segment to indicate the desired sound effect. You only need to use (OS) when the conversation takes place off-screen. Similarly, please use (VO) correctly. This is the abbreviation of VOICE OVER, which means that the audience can hear the narrative channel, but the characters on the screen can't hear it, that is, narration. For example, in the car chase scene in Private Detective Maglen, Maglen said softly, "I know what you are thinking." The screenwriter uses narration to reveal the facts. Unfortunately, like brackets, narration is also regarded as a lifeline by novices. I strongly suggest that you try to avoid using narration. But if you really can't help it, please use it on materials that you can't see or hear. The correct usage of (OV) is to add it to the name: Maglen, I know what you are thinking.

The effect is particularly good.

(Simply write down what you want the audience to see)

There is no need to explain how special effects should be realized. In Hollywood, there are countless people who can realize your vision. Simply write down what you want the audience to see. Outside the farm-at night, a huge silver flying saucer hovers and squeaks over the clearing. The exit opened and a beam of light poured out. The light becomes bright, and the little green man walks out of it.

Passive tone

(passive to active)

I am deeply worried when I see someone using this terrible verb form. Joe was taken away by Paul. Passive tone will lead to mediocre writing and poor writing, which is simply a curse in the script. You want to create a credible action and a natural dialogue, but the passive tone sounds unnatural and over-carved. It's hard to read the action description, and it also makes the dialogue stutter. To make matters worse, it gives those scripts that are waiting for an opportunity to humiliate you a proofreader. Imagine that your ignorance is twittering: ignorance looks! A fountain pen with half the ink missing was lost. Take the initiative to put your topic where it belongs-at the beginning of the sentence: Paul took Joe away. When the word "Bei" appears in your play, please check your grammatical structure. If you accidentally hit the passive tone, please rewrite it as: ignorant! Someone lost a fountain pen! There is only half ink left in the pen tube.

Too much nonsense

(Remove the details that can't be photographed)

Writing should be not only rich in connotation, but also concise and practical. Try to shorten the action paragraphs and remove the details that can't be photographed. For example: "She stood there, thinking." The camera can't show a person thinking. Thinking is an inner action, so are feelings and memories. Inner action belongs only to novels. In drama, if the audience can't see or hear a detail, then it doesn't exist. Therefore, you can only write what actors can perform and what cameras can record.

Adjectives and adverbs

(Use fewer descriptive words)

These words can describe or explain a person's behavior. Of course you want to show what your characters are doing, but description and explanation are all novelists' ways. Your way is dramatic action and visual image. Resolutely delete adjectives and adverbs, which will force you to write what the characters are doing instead of explaining what they are doing. A small amount of descriptive text is certainly no problem, but it should be used as little as possible. Script format is the most basic and professional skill, and it is also a necessary skill for screenwriters. But some friends, who don't know much about the format of the script, can come up with a good format. As a result, everyone couldn't help laughing. This boy is still very tender and cute, and as a result, he was bullied on the price. From the writer's own point of view, it is also a responsibility to make standard and beautiful words, which can not only make readers feel comfortable, but also exercise their skills and serious consciousness.

If you are a novice, you can try to choose computer screenplay software for professional screenplay design. By referring to the advantages and disadvantages of various script formats in the industry, Anjiexiu's online editing function comprehensively designed and formulated the standard format specification of creative cloud scripts. Editing can be written online or modified after import. No matter what format the script is imported, it will be displayed according to our preset specifications, with cover, preface and plot (text) introduction. The text specification is action and role.

At the same time, it supports multiple people to edit online at the same time. When more than two script creators modify at the same time, the system will automatically prompt who is modifying, so as to manage the errors caused by simultaneous modification by multiple people. After the revision, the system will automatically save the latest version, and Anjiexiu's script will be edited online to help you become a professional screenwriter.

the end